Stories from Quarantine | Checking In
Hello friends!
I’m not sure where you are in the world and what it’s like, but here in Chicago it’s a little bleak. Our St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were canceled. Concerts and other live shows are being postponed or canceled (Can we get an update, Hot Chelle Rae?). We’re now under a shelter-in-place order. I’ve been working from home for over a week and it’s a challenge. Normally I work from home a day here and there if I have a migraine, a doctor’s appointment, or if I’m traveling. This is the longest I’ve been at home and working on one screen is very difficult. Normally, my work from home days are on the calendar very early (like I have days scheduled to WFH in May that have been on the calendar since January) and I plan ahead so that I’m working on things that are easy to do on one screen. But that is not the case here so we’re powering through.
My anxiety is definitely not loving this situation. I tell my mom all the time how much I love coming home and hanging out with her after a trip, and I do. But it also feels like it’s my choice. This is bigger than me. This is one of those if you give a sh*t about anyone other than yourself, you should do it. And I am 1000000% behind it. But two weeks ago, was I looking into taking a Corona-cation? Of course I was! Flights are ridiculous right now. All of the flights I have booked for April and May on Southwest are no more than $45 one way. It’s unreal! The first day we were home from work, I even contemplated going to Atlanta to see one of my dear friends FOR BREAKFAST. It was going to be $90 RT and I haven’t seen her since we were in Honduras together back in October. The joy of being friends with a flight attendant and living in a city that’s a popular layover request for flight attendants means you never see each other. But Ash wasn’t feeling super great so she wasn’t going to want to get dressed up and while a week and a half ago, that wouldn’t have bothered me if we ate bagels in her living room in sweats and then I went home, there is still so much unknown about COVID-19 that, as much as I miss her, it wouldn’t have been the best idea for either of us.
Lately I want to crawl all the way out of my skin. I’ve been stuck in my house now for 11 days and I feel like I’m vibrating with anxiety. One thing that has helped is that I brought my sister home to quarantine with us. It was a COMPLETE surprise to my parents who thought she was going to have to work even though Walt Disney World is closed, but that’s because we told them she did. When I picked her up, I didn’t go into the airport which is a bit abnormal for our family. We always go inside and meet whomever at baggage claim–unless I’ve just gone somewhere for the day. But I didn’t want to grab any germs or pass anything on to anyone else. We found out last week I hung out with a friend that had COVID-19 but I was past the 14 day incubation period and never showed any symptoms. So it’s definitely for the best that I didn’t go in. Our parents had gotten into an argument shortly before we got home so we surprised them separately. Pretty sure mom is still in shock and dad’s never been happier in his life. With our spring break trip to visit her currently in limbo, I wanted to make sure we all got to see her.
My sister is my person, so I’m really glad she’s here. We don’t know when she’ll go back. Currently she’s booked on a flight to go home Sunday, but we’re not sure if we’ll send her back. If she doesn’t have to work and there’s no end in sight of this pandemic, we might as well keep her here. I am prepared if Disney calls her into work, to drive her back. The last time we road tripped to Disney (which I vowed five years ago never to do after seeing how amazing it is to fly and be in Orlando in two hours, 21 minutes), I drove from Atlanta all the way home and dad doesn’t stop overnight. So I know it’s doable. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I’ll do what’s necessary.
I’ve been trying to keep the anxiety at bay with a lot of Netflix (another post to come with the running list of what I’m watching), reading (another post to come with the books I’ve bought for quarantine), finding lots of memes, dreaming of where I’ll travel when all of this is over, laughing with my family while staying six feet apart (it’s tough, but I haven’t hugged my sister the entire time she’s been home), and reaching out to friends. My friend Sabrina found the Houseparty app that’s a Group FaceTime type deal, so we’re planning a virtual wine night soon! Looking forward to doing this with other friends as well.
Let me know how you’re faring in this time of wild uncertainty. What are you doing to occupy your time? Goodness knows we can all use another idea or two since we don’t know how long we’ll be here. Sending lots of love and calm thoughts. We’ll get through this. We have to…
xo.
